myType™ Bluetooth Keyboard

It seems as though our lives become busier and busier each day. We’re increasingly on the go, yet because of smartphones and tablets we’re also always connected. We are now expected to substantively respond to email and revise documents as if we’re in front of our laptop or desktop even when we aren’t. So how are we supposed fulfill our work and school obligations and write productive emails/papers on a tiny phone while we have five minutes waiting for our kids at practice, ten minutes at the coffee shop before work, an hour to kill on campus, or even a couple of hours on a flight or train ride? While our devices are getting smaller, our hands certainly aren’t.

The myType™ Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard is designed to be the most comfortable and convenient keyboard to take with you on the go while also providing the efficiency of a full-size keyboard when you need it. When folded, it fits comfortably in a pocket. It is lightweight, ultra-slim and compact allowing you to easily take it with you just like you take your smartphone or tablet. When it’s open, it provides a laptop/desktop feel and efficiency. And it is perfect for any normal work environment, school or travel, offering completely wireless Bluetooth technology and a long battery life that connects quickly and easily to smartphones and tablets. With the myType Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard, you can increasingly use your smartphone or tablet as a replacement for your laptop.

We hope that the unique design of this keyboard appeals to you and you will help us achieve our longtime goal of getting a product to market. Please check out the video telling our story and the information about the myType™ keyboard on this page.

Features & Specifications:

Keys are designed and spaced for touch typing, unlike most portable keyboards the myType keyboard is functionally similar to most desktop and laptop keyboards

Available in five colors: Kickstarter green, black, white, blue and pink

Works with Bluetooth® HID. Either by our own tests, or the respective manufacturer’s web site, HID is supported by the following devices (with the latest iOS available version for Apple products); iPhone 3GS and later, iPad incl. iPad Mini, iPod Touch 2nd and later, Android (with HID support; tested with several Samsung phones and tablets) and Windows 8 Tablets.

Dimensions When Open: 12.5” x 3.6” x .3”

Dimensions When Closed: 6.8” x 3.6” x .35"

Weight: Approximately 122 grams/4.3 oz (just the keyboard, not including packaging or charging cable)

Why we need your help...

We have worked very hard perfecting the design and features of the myType Keyboard, and have successfully created a keyboard that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but one that functions properly!

What we need from you is support in raising the necessary funds for production runs of the myType™ Keyboard in mass quantities. We’ve been working with our manufacturer for a while now and we’re all set to go – we just need the funds to make it happen!

How you can help...

First off, you can help by backing our project and you even get a myType™ keyboard in return for your support!

You can also help us spread the word about our crowdfunding campaign by Liking us on Facebook, Following us on Twitter and telling all of your friends about this awesome, new keyboard for those on the go.

Video overview of myType™ features:

The myType™ Keyboard comes in 5 exciting Colors:

Black

White

Blue

Kickstarter Green

Pink

A Brief History of the myType™ Keyboard

After contemplating the possibility of making a small device on which a user could touch type, Brunn came up with the notion of a collapsible keyboard in 1989 and began tinkering with keyboard designs.

There were several hurdles: 1. We needed suitable and widely adopted devices to pair with the keyboard 2. There was no easy way to connect the keyboard (writing and maintaining separate drivers for all the different devices was very painful and expensive) 3. Mobile internet didn't exist, substantially limiting the usefulness for such devices

Hewlett and Packard famously started in a garage, as did the two Steves of Apple fame. We didn’t have a garage – only a carport. We bought a small, numerically-controlled milling machine and started trying to make working prototypes. We used wood, metal and cannibalized commercial keyboards for parts. We could only use the “function” keys, as they were the only ones thin enough, so we needed a lot of keyboards. Brunn's oldest son would acquire and send us broken keyboards from his college IT department.

Early Prototype with Cannibalized Keys

Early Prototype in Metal and Wood

In 2001 we found and contacted George, a local Phoenix keyboard specialist, and arranged for the creation of a prototype. However, we could not overcome the obstacles mentioned above, and there the matter sat for nearly a decade until late spring of 2010. At that time we reconnected with George, essentially on a social call, and considered that the conditions had changed: smartphones (with their clumsy thumb boards) had become powerful computers and were widely adopted; Bluetooth had become a standard protocol for connecting to wireless keyboards; and mobile internet was quickly becoming fast, affordable, and ubiquitous.

2001 Prototype with Custom Molded Keys and Palm Cradle

We began development on what was to become the myType Keyboard in the summer of 2010. By December of 2011, after about 10 iterations including a complete redesign, we had ordered and had received 50 units in five colors from our initial 1,000 unit proof of concept beta (1,000 being fewer in quantity than what the factory was willing to provide in production runs). They worked well, and we were thrilled, so we gave the green light to produce the remaining 950 keyboards. We received the 950 in January of 2012. The keyboards worked but did not meet our expectations. This was devastating. We spent the next approximately 9 months working closely with the factory to address these issues and make further improvements.

2010 Early Prototype in Silicon Rubber

At this stage the factory agreed to provide us with another proof of concept beta run of 1,000 keyboards in our five colors. We tested the keyboards. They worked beautifully. However, given the history, we wanted more data points before launching our campaign. As part of our testing program, we marketed and sold a limited number on Sky Mall (132 units). The fact that the keyboard was well received and that we received very limited returns (1 before the start of our campaign and 1 subsequently) gave us the comfort and third party validation that we wanted before launching on Kickstarter. The myType Keyboard is not currently available on Skymall. It is still listed on the website, but is on back order until January of 2014 and will remain on backorder until all of our Kickstarter rewards have been fulfilled.

We are a small organization and have put in a tremendous amount of effort and resources to get myType to a stage where we are confident that we will be able to deliver a quality product on schedule to our backers. We are especially thankful to both Kickstarter and our many backers for helping us get over the hump and by raising the necessary funds to get the myType into production and bring it to the world.

Early Prototype in Wood and Paper

Risks and challenges

We have followed many projects on Kickstarter, and have seen many of them struggle to deliver on time - or at all. We know, first hand, how frustrating this is for the backers, so we made a strategic decision to launch only after we had worked through the challenges most likely to cause delays.

For us, this meant securing and building relationships with suppliers, finalizing the product design, securing proof of concept beta run in each color giving us confidence that this process is repeatable.

That said, there are still risk factors that could impact our ability to complete our project, but we have identified alternate manufacturing channels, and are confident that we will be able to deliver our rewards on time.

If the project substantially exceeds expectations (what Ben's mom would call "a nice problem to have"), it could introduce some delays in fulfillment and potentially manufacturing. We have identified fulfillment partners, and are confident that we can get rewards shipped out in a timely fashion. The factory has assured us that they are equipped to handle large order sizes into the 10,000+ range quickly and efficiently.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $67 or more
About $67

MYTYPE KEYBOARD + IPHONE SMARTER STAND. --

Receive one myType™ in your choice of color from our full production run after our Kickstarter campaign AND one iPhone Smarter Stand (compatible with ALL generations of iPhone and iPod touch). Free shipping in the US!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

MYTYPE KEYBOARD + IPHONE SMARTER STAND + IPAD SMARTER STAND. --

Receive one myType™ in your choice of color from our full production run after our Kickstarter campaign, one iPhone Smarter Stand (compatible with ALL generations of iPhone and iPod touch) and one iPad Smarter Stand (compatible with iPad 2, 3, 4 and mini). Free shipping in the US!